Every day, we work to make the world a more livable place for all bereaved people.
Red Douglas
Manager, Higher Ed Initiatives
Red is a Ph.D. candidate in Higher Education Leadership at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. His doctoral research focuses on the phenomena of grief and bereavement among students in higher education environments and ways administrators can best support students who experience loss. Red serves as the co-chair of the Students and New Professionals Committee within the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and is co-founder of Arrow Academic Consulting, a social entrepreneurship firm that advocates for and provides assistance to students and scholars from diverse backgrounds, including first-generation students, international students, and veterans.
Rene Harrell
Senior Manager, Emerging Science & Trends
Rene has served in leadership positions at multiple local, state, and national nonprofits, overseeing the development of peer-support programs and educational initiatives for families of children with special health care needs and medical complexity. Her work has aimed to bridge the gap between science and community practice, ensuring that families have access to evidence-based resources and systems of support that help them make informed care decisions and improve quality of life and well-being. Following the death of her youngest daughter, Rene’s interests expanded to include the field of bereavement research and its translation into quality care for grieving individuals and families.
Jena Kirkpatrick
Manager, Outreach & Engagement
Jena is a writer and advocate dedicated to advancing bereavement care nationwide. Her work with Evermore is deeply personal, honoring the life of her son, Ellis, who was killed in 2011.
Jena played a key role in securing House support for bereavement care in the FY21 Congressional budget process and has helped elevate grief as a national public health priority. She leads client outreach and external communications, amplifying the voices and needs of the bereaved.
She also serves as editor of Evermore’s Community Newsletter and develops community-driven events and ambassador initiatives that strengthen connection and advocacy.
Joyal Mulheron
Executive Director
Joyal spent twenty-five years advising high-ranking politicians, including governors and The White House, and translating basic science into public policy. She has enjoyed leading significant initiatives for the National Governors Association, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the American Cancer Society. Joyal holds a master’s in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and degrees in Biochemistry and English from Virginia Tech, as well as a minor in Chemistry. After a series of high-profile death events and the death of her daughter, Ms. Mulheron founded Evermore to change policy, advance research, and improve the lives of all bereaved people.
Michelle Palmer
Senior Clinical Advisor for Grief, Loss, and Mental Health
Michelle is a clinical social worker and nationally recognized expert on trauma, grief, and mental health. From 2012-2024, Michelle served as the Executive Director of the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing, D.C.’s only not-for-profit mental health agency specializing in the care and treatment of adults, teens, and children who are coping with the impact of grief, loss, and trauma. She has recently moved back “home” to New Jersey, where she is the owner of a mental health practice specializing in grief.
In addition to her twenty-plus years of experience in both clinical and managerial social work, she has provided national training and support to organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Campaign, the Wynn Hotel in the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, and the District of Columbia Police Department’s homicide and juvenile services unit. Ms. Palmer provided mental health support to New Orleans residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the 2024 New Year’s Eve Bourbon Street attack. In 2013, Michelle led the Center’s response to the mass shooting at the Navy Yard, for which she earned a congressional commendation. Ms. Palmer has served as a subject matter expert on issues/topics related to complex homicide, mass violence/mass disaster, community trauma, secondary/vicarious trauma, and compassionate death notification. She also currently serves on the Option B advisory board for an initiative launched by Sheryl Sandberg, bestselling author, and former Facebook/Meta COO, designed to create a national conversation around grief, adversity, and resiliency
Amelia Smith
Manager, Emerging Science & Trends
Amelia is a medical student at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, where she was a Division I Student-Athlete. She then attended Georgetown University for her Master’s in Aging Healthcare and Economics, focusing on long-term care policy. Now in medical school, Amelia works in Medicaid policy and Ophthalmology research. Amelia loves to walk marathons, make jewelry, and bake cookies (always forgetting to add the eggs and sugar).
Jean Singer, MBA, PhD
Director, Strategy and Operations
Jean has more than 20 years experience as a management consultant, applying social network principles and techniques to help companies improve performance and employee well-being. Her clients have included Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies, global financial institutions, and leading technology firms. Jean works with Evermore to help build operational capability and organizational growth. She also applies her background in the study of social networks to research on the impacts of bereavement on social connection. She holds a bachelors degree in chemical engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in human and organizational systems.
Thomas Weiser, MD
Director, Health Initiatives
Dr. Weiser has spent his public health career working with tribal people as a Medical Epidemiologist with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) on behalf of the Portland Area Indian Health Service. As Co-chair of the Portland Area IHS IRB, he provided expert consultation for researchers regarding human subjects’ protections as they specifically apply to research in Native communities. His research has focused on developing, evaluating, and improving surveillance systems to identify diseases and conditions affecting NW Native people, building capacity to respond to various conditions, including vaccine-preventable diseases, childhood disabilities, hepatitis C, and preventing deaths from opioid misuse and suicide. His teaching and mentoring experience includes serving as a course instructor for the NW Native Research Centers for Health and as the primary field supervisor for four CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officers assigned to NPAIHB. His interest in supporting Evermore comes from his own grief journey following the death of his eldest daughter in 2016.